


In Print

by thereforebucket



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F, Nozoeli is also a ship in this but it's not what the fic is about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-05 18:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11018769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thereforebucket/pseuds/thereforebucket
Summary: Daily prompt fill: “someone keeps printing cute animal pictures/cryptic messages from my wireless printer n im determined to find out who it is” I thought of Nico and I had to write it! Enjoy!





	In Print

The first time it happens, it’s weird, but Nico doesn’t really think anything of it. She figures some kid in her building was trying to print out a picture of what is really an adorable dog and just had the wrong printer. She wishes they hadn’t printed it in color, but she figures no harm, no foul, and just recycles it.

The second time it happens, Nico almost packs up and moves right then and there. This time, it’s not a picture of a cute dog, no, it’s a message, and it seems like someone’s hell-bent on spooking her. That, or her printer really is sentient, like the message proclaims. But, it’s a prank, right? It has to be! It has to be. 

She calls Maki and complains about something else that happened in her day. It takes her mind off the creepy printer message and she rests relatively easy that night. 

The third time it happens, the kid is back and with a fucking vengeance. Nico comes home to the sound of her printer running and finds ten full-color pictures of the same dog meme spilling out of her printer tray. For a moment, all she does is stand there, hands balled in fists, and hate whoever’s goddamn kid loves dogs enough to want this picture this badly, and then the eleventh one rolls out of her printer, hot off the presses, and Nico dives to unplug it from the wall. 

God, she has to get to the bottom of this, and she would, she’d start talking to the chattiest neighbors to figure out who this is, but…she’s got a date. With Maki. Which is…new. And remembering that does actually help a little to soften her bad mood. But the irritation at the printer is soon replaced by anxiety about getting to her date on time, so she lifts herself up off the floor and races to her room to change, nearly tripping over a discarded jacket along the way. God, she needs to clean this place… 

When she gets back from her (pretty successful) date, Nico plugs the printer back in and receives three more pictures of the dog before she finds the cancel button. She has to fend off five more print orders after that and grumbles as she feeds the unmarked paper back into the paper tray. She sighs. She’ll do something about this in the morning. 

Nico’s in her pajamas and brushing her teeth when she hears her printer start up again. Slowly, she leans her head out the bathroom door and watches as a single sheet of paper slides into the tray. Her printer powers down and Nico stands there a moment, eye twitching, before spitting forcefully into the sink and stalking into her room. On the paper are the words “I’m running out of ink, feed me." 

Nico snatches the paper, crumples it up, and throws it at the wall. Oh she’s definitely doing something about this in the morning. 

She wakes up around eight and waits impatiently for about an hour before calling Maki. She doesn’t want to wake her up too soon or she’ll be cranky. She’s also a little unsure of how to proceed after their date. It had felt just like hanging out but they were both dressed up and both drank a little too much wine and there was wine? Which in and of itself was out of the ordinary. Not bad necessarily, just, different? And. Nice. 

Nico shakes her head and dials Maki’s number. 

The phone almost rings out before Maki picks up with a, "Hello?” Her voice is scratchy with sleep and it’s…really cute? Nico’s actually stunned for a minute and she tries to reconcile those feelings while remembering that she doesn’t really need to and yet still feeling compelled to keep them under wraps. She’s actually so caught up in her head that Maki says, “Hello?” again, more insistently this time, and Nico snaps to attention. 

“Hello Maki, I’m sure you missed my lovely presence!”

There’s a silence on the other end before Maki speaks again. “I’m hanging up,” she deadpans. 

“Wait wait wait!” Nico says, putting out her hand even though she’s alone at her kitchen counter. “Don’t hang up!” She pauses for a moment. “Do you want to come over?" 

"I saw you less than twelve hours ago!” Maki says. “Nico, I’m going back to sleep." 

"You won’t believe what keeps happening, though,” Nico says, and when Maki doesn’t say anything, she takes the opportunity to regale her with the tale of her printer. 

“And I’m supposed to care why?” Maki asks when she’s done. 

“Come on, you want to see who these weirdos are as much as I want to tell them to get their own damn printer,” Nico says. “I have a plan for figuring out who they are." 

Maki mulls it over for a moment, then sighs. "I’ll be over at 10,” she says. “But you owe me breakfast." 

"Can you pick it up and I’ll pay you back?" 

"Fine." 

They hang up and Nico gleefully texts Maki her order from a local bakery. When that’s done, she puts on some coffee and goes to get ready. 

Maki arrives at exactly 10:15, paper bag in hand. By that point, Nico had been sitting on her phone for about half an hour, impatiently playing a game while she glanced at the time. When she hears the knock, she jumps up and opens the door a little crossly. 

"Hey.”

“Hey." 

"Brought your bagel,” Maki says, holding the bag up. 

“How’d you get in my building?” Nico asks. 

“Your doorman recognized me,” Maki says, scooting past her into the apartment. 

“You realize you’re also literally showing up fifteen minutes late with Starbucks,” Nico says. 

Maki looks down at the bag, then back up at Nico. “Well, Homura,” she says, giving the correct name of the bakery. 

Nico rolls her eyes. “Whatever,” she says, and goes to pour Maki some coffee. She pours in cream until it’s a light beige color and adds a spoonful of sugar, then hands it to Maki, who accepts it gratefully. Nico then refills her own cup (black, with three sugars) and sits down at the table across from Maki. 

“So,” Maki says, distributing breakfast, “what’s your plan for catching the people sending you stuff?" 

Nico smirks and, once she’s made sure she’s caught Maki’s eyes, flips over a stack of paper on the table to reveal all the dog memes that were printed.   
Maki chokes on her coffee. "Is this the picture they tried so hard to print?” she asks. It’s a picture of a dog with shades and a backpack and the (probably) fake headline “Local Dog Too Cool For Town." 

"Yep,” Nico says exasperatedly. Maki looks at her, trying to hide a laugh, and it’s…really cute. Nico acquiesces and laughs with her and just. Damn she likes this girl. The moment ends, though, and Nico clears her throat, a little unsure of how to proceed. “I, um, was thinking that we could use these as posters,” she explains. 

“Like, you’d write on them, then hang them up?” Maki asks. 

“Yes,” Nico says, nodding. “I was thinking something like ‘come get your dog pictures, dipshit.’" 

Maki snorts. "Yeah I’m sure that would go over well with your building.”

Nico chuckles. “How about 'Is this your picture? See Nico in 205 if it is.’" 

"Sure.” Maki shrugs. “Hopefully they’ll actually listen and come by." 

"We have to hope,” Nico says. 

The two of them eat their breakfast and somehow find something to talk about, though they saw each other twelve hours ago. It actually doesn’t feel forced at all, Nico reflects, and that thought is a little…unsettling? But it shouldn’t be. They’ve been friends for like three years, of course they’d be able to keep up a conversation. She must look agitated because Maki picks up on it and starts to twirl her hair nervously in response. 

“You ok?” she asks. 

“Hmm?” Nico says. “Oh, yeah, I am.” And she is. She smiles, and Maki calms down a little. Her hand leaves her hair and floats for a second, unsure of where to go. She grabs her napkin and balls it up in her fist for something to do, then just kind of tosses in onto the wrapper of her breakfast sandwich. Nico bites back a laugh, stands up, and collects their trash to throw it away. She returns from the kitchen with two pens and throws one at Maki, who just barely catches it. 

“What was that for?” she asks, glowering. 

“Help me make these into posters,” Nico says, gesturing to the dog pictures. 

Maki rolls her eyes. “Fine." 

It takes them about fifteen minutes to write on all of them, and they only argue about what they should say like once, which is honestly good for them. When they’re done, Nico grabs the posters and some tape and the two of them head out the door. 

"We need to think of the best places to hang these,” Nico says. “We only have fourteen of them." 

Maki snorts. "Your building only has five stories." 

Nico tilts her head. "True.” She thrusts the posters and tape into Maki’s arms. “You hold these and I’ll find the best spots to put them up since it’s my building." 

Maki scowls at her, but holds the materials anyway. They start to walk down the hallway, Nico detailing her plan for putting the posters up. "Let’s see, we should put one on each floor outside the elevator, one on each landing in the stairwell, one actually in the elevator, and the rest in the lobby." 

"God, I can’t believe I’m dating Harriet the Spy,” Maki says, and Nico decides to ignore the very obvious short joke in favor of the other part of the sentence.

She whirls around to face Maki with a grin on her face and Maki bites her lip, looking worried. “Dating?” Nico asks, grinning ear to ear. “So that means you do want a second date?" 

Maki flushes and twirls a piece of her hair with her finger. "I guess it depends,” she says, glancing at Nico. 

“On!?” Nico asks. 

“Whether or not you actually get these people to come to your apartment." 

"I will!” Nico says, pointing at her. “Nico Yazawa doesn’t fail!" 

Maki tries unsuccessfully to hide a laugh and Nico rocks back on her heels, chagrined to realize how transparent she was being. "Elevator’s this way,” she says sheepishly. 

They put up the posters and return to Nico’s apartment. Within an hour, Nico is pacing back and forth in front of the door. It’s not that she expected immediate results, per say, she just has something to prove now! …And maybe she expected immediate results. 

“Come sit down,” Maki says from the couch. “You’re making me nervous." 

"That’s not that hard to do,” Nico says, but goes to sit down anyway. 

Maki kicks her. “Shut up.” She tosses Nico the remote. “You want to watch something?" 

Nico shrugs, bouncing her leg. "Sure, what do you want to watch?” They decide on a movie and put it on. Five minutes into it, Nico’s leg is still bouncing impatiently. Maki sighs and swings her legs up onto Nico’s lap. Nico stares at them, a hint of a blush forming high in her cheeks. 

“Chill,” Maki says, and settles in to watch the movie. Nico just kind of sets her arms on top of Maki’s legs, but it takes a while for her to get completely comfortable. 

The results of the posters might not be immediate, but they are swift. The movie is just about to end when there’s a knock on Nico’s door. Nico pushes Maki’s legs unceremoniously off her lap and springs to her feet. Maki sighs and pauses the movie. 

Nico walks quickly to the door and all but wrenches it open in her excitement. “Hi, are you here about the posters?” she asks. 

There are two women at the door, a tall blonde women who had just been the one knocking and a shorter woman with purple hair smirking behind her. “Um, yes,” the blonde one says nervously. Actually, everything about her seems nervous. One hand rubs the back of her neck and the other fiddles with the hem of her jeans. Nico notes that neither of them is, in fact, a child. 

It’s not the most prominent thought in her head though, made evident by her turning around and pointing at Maki. “HA!” she says. “I told you the posters would work! You owe me a second date!" 

Maki rolls her eyes and looks away, but smiles, a slight blush creeping across her cheeks. When Nico turns around, the blonde woman looks alarmed, or maybe overwhelmed at the events and struggles to maintain composure. Her friend behind her just grins wider. "Um, I’m looking for Nico,” the blonde one says. “Is he here?" 

Nico’s triumphant grin turns into a scowl and she crosses her arms and slumps against the door. "You’re speaking to her.” The blonde girl’s friend snorts and Nico hears a snigger behind her that she knows is coming from Maki, but she refuses to look at either of them. 

The blonde girl looks mortified. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” she says. She sticks a rigid hand out, which Nico regards for a second before taking. “I’m Eli Ayase and this is my girlfriend Nozomi,” she jerks her free thumb over her shoulder, “we live in 314 and we were the ones sending things to your printer.” Hmm, so her girlfriend, not just her friend. “It was completely by accident. I think we have the same model printer? So I clicked on it when I was trying to print that picture and I guess it sent it to yours…” Ahh, well that makes sense. “Um, could we maybe invite you and your…friend? Girlfriend? You mentioned something about a second date…over for dinner sometime to make up for it? I’m so, so sorry." 

"Really, it’s fine,” Nico says, giving in and comforting this anxious woman at her door. The dog pictures were clearly mistakes, though the other messages… Nico peeks over the blon–Eli’s shoulder and sees Nozomi holding in a laugh as best she can. Yeah, those messages weren’t accidents at all. She narrows her eyes and Nozomi’s grin threatens to crack. She looks away and puts a hand over her mouth. Nico closes her eyes and turns around, exasperated. “Would you want to go to dinner?” She asks Maki, who is now leafing through a magazine on Nico’s coffee table. 

“If I do, it counts as our second date,” Maki says without looking up. 

“I’ll make sure the food is good!” Eli chimes in from behind them and it’s so earnest that Nico bursts out laughing. 

“Alright,” she says, wiping her eyes and turning around, “I guess just give me date and time and we’ll be there." 

"Thank you,” Eli says. “We just moved here a few weeks ago and we don’t know many people. I was actually trying to print out that picture to put on our fridge since it looks pretty bare right now." 

"I think this might have happened when we first moved here too,” Nozomi says, coming up to rest her hand on Eli’s shoulder. “Eli tried to print out a picture of her sister’s dog for the fridge but it didn’t go through to our printer. It probably ended up in yours." 

Nico nods. "Yeah, I remember that dog. Was it a Samoyed?" 

"That’s the one!” Nozomi says cheerfully. “Well, nice to meet you, Nico and…” she peers around Nico to look at Maki on the couch, still flipping through the magazine aimlessly. 

“Maki,” Nico hisses, and she looks up. 

“Hmm?" 

"Your name?" 

"Oh, Maki,” she says, with a look that says 'why didn’t you tell her?' 

"Very nice to meet you,“ Eli agrees, shaking Nico’s hand again. "And we’re so sorry for all the trouble we caused you." 

"Won’t happen again,” Nozomi adds. She, too, takes Nico’s hand and smirks. Nico narrows her eyes a little. 

They say their goodbyes and leave. The next day, Eli slips a note under the door with the date and time she was thinking for dinner and Nico texts Maki and marks it in her phone calendar. When she’s done, she heads to her room and finds a new note in the printer tray, reading, “In case Eli’s note gets lost in the shuffle,” and the date and time of the dinner. It’s signed Nozomi, and Nico stares at it before crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash with a roll of her eyes.


End file.
